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Before the planned expansion of the San Diego Convention Center can move forward, numerous environmental impacts will have to be addressed, according to a voluminous report issued by the Port of San Diego.

The required comment period for the environmental impact report ended last week, setting the stage for certification of the document later this year by San Diego port commissioners.

The proposed $520 million expansion calls for roughly 220,150 square feet of additional exhibit hall space for a combined total of 745,850 square feet, as well as 101,500 more square feet of meeting rooms and 78,470 square feet of ballroom space.

The EIR for the project, which still must be approved by the California Coastal Commission, identifies impacts large and small in a number of areas, from esthetics and air quality to noise and traffic.

In the report, measures are recommended for overcoming those impacts, including installing rooftop solar panels and incorporating low-water plantings into the landscaping.

The port received comment letters from 18 individuals and organizations, including the city of Coronado, the San Diego Padres and the San Diego County Archaeological Society.

The Padres, in its letter, raised a number of concerns, the most significant of which related to a loss of parking as a result of the expansion.

In all, the enlarged center will eliminate 278 spaces, the Padres contend, while at the same time creating more demand for parking.

"If this were a privately sponsored project...we doubt that the (San Diego Unified Port District) would be supportive of allowing a development to go forward that creates parking demand but provides no new parking spaces," reads the letter.

Project supporters are hoping the expansion could be completed by 2017 at the latest.

“With every project there are impacts of some sort," said Darren Pudgil, spokesman for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. "They will all be addressed so that we can move forward with this much-needed expansion and put thousands of San Diegans to work.”